The tour’s purpose was to learn what is happening on the ground and on the water in the communities within NFFC and NAMA’s membership and networks. We wanted to highlight the shared experiences of fishermen and farmers - from racial inequities, to economic disempowerment and food injustices that are woven into our current food system. We also celebrated stories of hope, opportunity, and change.

​

Our list of visits were long (see original itinerary to the right). Informed by NFFC members and NAMA’s Fish Locally Collaborative, it took us from sea to shining sea and a first hand introduction to those amber waves of grain. See a slideshow from the tour here.

​

We focused primarily on rural fishing and farming communities, visiting members and friends at their homes and meeting their neighbors. Along the way, we visited the lynching memorial in Montgomery, AL, and participated in the Indigenous Environmental Network’s Protecting Mother Earth Gathering in Nisqually, WA.

​

Top lesson we learned: we must address the isolation of and economic destruction within rural farming and fishing communities as a matter of social peace and health.

​

America the Bountiful: you inspired us to do more and to do what we do better. We'll be seeing you often!